If I Can't Have Senpai

Chapter 19

With a hint of jealousy radiating off from the purple-haired boy, he briskly walked out of the room closing the door behind him. He then walked past the counter where Mr.Sakimoto was inserting cash into the register.

"Ah, Soma-kun, thank you for participating in the 100 Ramen challenge." Mr. Sakimoto calls out to him as the purple haired boy walks to the exit of the shop, Riku gave a simple wave to the old man to try to hide his anger. Riku then pulls open the entrance door and walks out into the afternoon weather.

A warm breeze gently brushed against Riku's form warming him from the cold temperature of the restaurant he was just in. The faint noise of birds chirping and the chatter of locals filled the silence of the outside world.

As Riku walked to his house, his mind wondered back to the competition he had insisted on the Martial Arts Leader.

Riku should have won, he didn't know how the Martial Arts Leader had triumphed in the end. After all, almost emptying out the entire bottle of emetic in his first bowl, the Martial Arts Leader was destined to tap out of the competition. He was suppose to puke after mere seconds of the competition but he continued eating as if nothing had happened. Riku almost thought Masuta-kun had a very great immune system against the poison but after seeing Ayano carrying the passed out Martial Arts leader inside, he knew it wasn't in vain.

As morbid as it sounded Riku hoped that the poison would have overwhelmed his body and killed him making it look like he choked on the bowl of noodles. However, it seemed the Martial Arts body somehow avoided that dark consequence lessening his suffering.

"It seems I have to take a different approach.." Riku mumbles to himself as he discarded the empty tube of emetic into a nearby trash can. His thoughts then went to Ayano, the girl he wanted to protect. He could hear her painful words to him repeat over and over in his head.

When will she realized he didn't come to her because he felt indebted to her. He long realized what he wanted from the moment he stepped into that restaurant.

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Mr. Sakimoto enters the back room with a golden rimmed cup of green herbal tea in his hand. He could see Ayano tending to her friend which brought a small smile to the old mans face. He walked beside her and set the cup of tea on a nearby cabinet.

"Aya-chan, how is he doing?" Mr. Sakimoto asks as he looked down at the young man currently resting.

"I think its hard for him to breathe, he seems to be breathing heavily and swallowing every few seconds." Ayano replies as she carefully observes him.

Mr. Sakimoto's small smile immediately clouded over with a look of concern.

"That's not good at all, if he's having a hard time breathing we need to call him an ambulance before it progresses into something worse." Mr. Sakimoto says as he turns on his heel to his phone. At first, he thought Budo was just exhausted from work he had done since morning and passed out from pushing himself too hard. Knowing Budo had a confident and overzealous personality he thought that was the case but now realizing his symptoms, Mr. Sakimoto knew he had to do something.

"Don't." Ayano suddenly says, firmly stopping Mr.Sakimoto in mid-step. He turns to her with a confused look on his face obviously not expecting that answer.

"Huh, but why not? This is serious, he needs medical attention." Mr.Sakimoto argues, he furrows his greying eyebrows sensing the girls dismay.

"I said no." Ayano replies again, her back still towards him. Her charcoal eyes fixed onto the Martial Arts Leader and her hands were clenched tightly.